Telegram-herald., 1887-07-14

Sullivan for satire HIS hRaor sometimes
ssia<s sittls bot i Is lhsssing hat lzapi'
the norsel Of 0nstrained honey: = w0neer-
fai sweet Is with shs sting. and is l. always
enjoyabls. flr. Ike the pretty cells hidden
within the h0Esysonb. there is always
metaphor rare and beautiful. There is
one trouble with Gilberts plays that does
not sefse1 his libfettos, his hamor beiag
delicate, or rather, partaking more
OF satire than os fun Is sometimes -
deftly covered that il requires :
quick vii TO thoroughly comprehend il.
Ills "Ebgsged tTsa1s dangerously near ~
barlesqUe ana vet /. Is the pufsst satire 10
burlesque which would DO 70 destroy il.
Willard Brigham. the Young actor. chose
"Engaged for his benefit al Powers Grznd
Opera house last evening. A magnificent
audience was present. an audience such As
Is seldom, il ever, seen within the walls oi
tie taeAtre IN the summer season. And
EIgnt here let me say that no greater COM
pnment could have been paid the
ladies and gentlemen who appeared
IN the east than the fact which
is now recorded THAT every member Of that
large az Eiience SAT through the play; that
this was b remarkable compliment is patent
for tw3 reasons: First. the weather
Was int0lerably, insuIierably, unspeakably
torrid, sacond, not more than three iourths
of all, " BIO heard the play, understood OF
appreciated the Gilberiian idea of humos.
II is useless now 70 say that Mr.. Brigham
chose an wisely, for the performance as a
whole hs most ENJOYABLE. but a Gilbertian
play she duld Always BE avoided ~ amateurs
and professionals. too. Tor that matter wine n
circumstances conspire 10 weaken in. any
degree the smoothness of the performance
ln such performances "a those of last even
ing-which might be termed semi-profe3-
sionsl-the honest critic might with one OF
the Immortal BSrd's htrJines say u do
perceive DIVIDED duty" Amateurs can
not. of a certainty, be judged by profes-
sional standard. Art in its every branch
must recognize amateurs for lift did not
We should presently have no professionals,
or. al least, we should only have the novice
and the professional. The beniticiare is an
actor and, in his line. particularly tall
ented one Mr.. Brigham is, however,
adapted TO the Mephistopheles of the dra.
matte stage and not to the light comedy
characters such as Chevi0t Hill. He, how
ever, gave an intelligent idea of an anus
ing young "masher," prodigal with his af-
fections but economic with his cash, whom
oiioeie mas slOnb!y odyii1sU. ue sHoncu
himself thoroughly Amiliar with stage
business. but our fri Ihd must remember
that to him has been gF Yen a melo-dramstic
face and figure which, will require heroic
treatment to make fit in comedy
frame. The ladiess Ia the cast las;
evening largely carried away the laurels.
This | am sure the gentlemen of the cast
will admit-for suclr was very evidently
the verdict OF the fashionable assemblage.
Mrs Fred O.. Berger assumed the character
o. Belinda. in whicQ Agnes Booth, created
q furcre in New York. The role is a diff
ticult one. even for professional The
speeches are long aud declamatory and re-
quire tremendous force and action. Mrs.
Berger surprised her friends by her inter
pretation, was cordially received ard fire.
quently appsuded. The lady reads with
much intelligence Aside from Afr. Brig
ham the only professionals in the cast
were Grace Kimbail and Laura l..
Dainty. Miss kimball looked pretty
as Minnie. She was easy but listless. It
goes without saying that Mrs. Dainty did
Aths little she bad ta,'io as Mrs. McFarlane
well, and With the modest grace that always
charactsfizes her sppea2nces. Z. j. Nc
Kittrick was the Belvawney, and that gen
tleman walked through the part remark
ably we'll John II. Mcintyre PLAYED SYM
person sgreeably, and with as much life as
might have been expected from young
gentleman whose mind was wandering
around the Champs Elysees where he will
be within week. Angus Nc lister
was splendidly acted by Mr. T. Crane,
whose Scotch dialect-the most difficult
OF all dis'ects-was perfect Miss Maud
Clay was plump and pretty Parker. Har-
~ Hubbard-here the pencil fnilsl The
crayon of our own Fred. Church should be
at command to sketch that make up and
the pen of William Winter or Nym Grim
kle should analyze the all too brief appear
snce Of Major McGillicuddy. Like foot
prints on the sands of the seashore was his
triumph;-a wave washed j. away. He
came like meteor-after awhile
and was gone. His auburn hair
and whiskers dimmei the fJotlights and
then the curtain fell and all was darkness
Gould the frozen Gilbert have heard his cry
TO Belinda: "Untwine yourself from tue
embrace Of that DOODLE Alderman he
would have thawed and tainted. "My
name is Mud, shouted Harry and the cur
tain went down and the audience yelled
for him. Mr. Hubbard was. OF fact, very
funny. The bonors of the evening were
without anv doubt. carried away by
Miss Aegie Douglass, before whose
beauty and talent Minnie Palmer
would not be thought Of. This little
little lady made her de0rt as Maggie Nc
Farlsne and with pretty and absolutely
correct makeup. musical voice that I.otta
could afford to give half of her millions TO
possess, completely captured the audience.
Miss Douglass has remarkable aptitude for
the stage and shoGld she choose either a
dramatic or operatic career would most
certainly succeed az a commedieune.
No small share Of the pleasure of last
nights performance shoGld be attributed
to the magnetic pfssence Of Laura r Dainty
who changed her Scotch dress and grav
hair for pretty robe aud between the
second and third acts electrified the audi
ence by reciiing Bret HaTte's Bill Mason :
Bride" and for an encore money Musk
Mr.. Brigham gave a delightful supper at
Sweets after the performance last evening
to those who assisted At his benefit.